Welcome to the Acquisition Research Program

Established in 2003, Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Acquisition Research Program provides leadership in innovation, creative problem solving and an on-going dialogue, contributing to the evolution of Department of Defense acquisition strategies.

The NPS Acquisition Research Program goals are to:

Position NPS as a recognized leader in defense acquisition research.

Establish NPS acquisition research as an integral part of policy-making for Departments of Defense officials.

Create a stream of relevant information concerning the performance of DOD acquisition policies with viable recommendations for continuous process improvement.

Prepare the DoD workforce to participate in the continued evolution of the defense acquisition process.

Collaborate with other universities, think tanks, industry and Government in acquisition research.

Historically, the operating forces of the U.S. military look to the past for lessons learned when developing new strategies. With evolving technologies, world events and increased collaborative efforts globally, the challenge is to apply lessons learned to produce a coherent and executable framework for continued success in military operations.

In achieving this end state, the process followed is important. The emerging strategy should be developed in a free and open forum that invites innovation and debate while maintaining intellectual rigor. An approach such as this is also of value to the business processes of the Department of Defense (DOD). Specifically, the DOD acquisition system would benefit from an ongoing dialogue among practitioners, scholars and students of the process.

The faculty at NPS are particularly well positioned to make a major contribution to such a dialogue. Additionally, graduate students stand to gain immensely from participation in the Acquisition Research Program and the Annual Acquisition Research Symposium held each May in Monterey, California. Through research and creative problem solving on defense related topics, NPS provides a major source of analytical capability for the Department of Defense.

A full spectrum of research is envisioned for NPS faculty and graduates students of and collaborating partners ranging from scholarly efforts published in relevant peer reviewed journals to articles in acquisition related periodicals and more application oriented student projects. This range of research will contribute to the dialogue of the DOD acquisition community, be an important element in continued accreditation and ground the future DOD acquisition workforce in the issues of the day.

Join Our Team of Research Sponsors

We gratefully acknowledge the ongoing support and leadership of our sponsors, whose foresight and vision have assured the continuing success of the Acquisition Research Program:

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, & Logistics)

Director, Acquisition Career Management, ASN (RD&A)

Program Executive Officer, SHIPS

Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command

Program Executive Officer, Integrated Warfare Systems

Army Contracting Command, U.S. Army Materiel Command

Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition)

Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, & Technology)

Deputy Director, Acquisition Career Management, U.S. Army

Office of Procurement and Assistance Management Headquarters, Department of Energy